


Diaz Dating Drama

by kitkat0723



Series: Changing Pace [7]
Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Changing Pace Verse, Dating, Eddie is freaking Out, F/M, M/M, Not Beta Read, Teenage Christopher
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-14
Updated: 2020-12-14
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:15:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,364
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28063023
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kitkat0723/pseuds/kitkat0723
Summary: Christopher is going out on a date and Eddie freaks out. Christopher just wants to have a great night but his dad isn't letting that happen.
Relationships: Christopher Diaz & Eddie Diaz, Christopher Diaz/OFC, Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz
Series: Changing Pace [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1956955
Comments: 17
Kudos: 69





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So the changing Pace verse is taking a little turn.... Christopher deserves to have a story of his own. And this is it. 
> 
> oh and my OFC's name is pronounced Ly-za, not Lee-sa. :o) 
> 
> I own nothing but the words and Liza's creation. All characters own themselves. Just another slice of life with our favorite fictional people.

Christopher was just pulling on his shirt when a knuckle wrapping on his door interrupted him. Without waiting for approval, his dad opened the door. He smiles at him but Chris can see the panic behind his father’s eyes. He sighs quietly to himself and sits on the bed. He tries not to be annoyed that they’re doing this again. His dad has had “The Talk” with him ever since last week when he told his dad and Buck that he had a date. Of course, it wasn’t like they were going to get into anything dangerous. They’d be caught too quickly. He laughs a little at his own thoughts rolling his eyes at his dad’s look.    
“Did you need anything?”    
His father's hands slip into his pockets, leaning on the door before he stands up and walks into the room, pulling out his desk chair. “Are you sure you want to go? You can always stay in, you know downstairs, play video games we can even order pizza.” The last is said in a whisper like Buck isn’t downstairs making them a nice cozy dinner for two right now.    
“Dad! Come on. We’re not staying in. Liza and I are just going to hang out and listen to someone play some acoustic covers at a coffee shop. It’ll be okay.”    
“Yeah, but Christopher, she’s a girl and you’re a boy, teenager, human.” His dad shouldn’t be the one freaking out. It should be him.   
His last relationship, if you could call it that, hadn’t ended all that great but James wasn’t good for him. He doesn’t know if Liza will be either, but he’s willing to give it a shot. She makes him laugh and he likes her smile and the way his stomach gets twisted when she talks to him.   
“Dad. Please. No. Just. No.” Christopher begs for the thousandth time that week.    
“You need to hear this.”    
Christopher groans and stands up, walking over to the door, shirt still halfway on and halfway off.    
“Buck!” he calls down the hallway, hoping it’ll reach his step-father's ears in the kitchen.    
“What are you doing?” His dad demanded.    
Christopher turns back to his father, smiling a little. “I’m making your husband talk some sense into you. We’ve already had the talk. We’re all scared for life. It’s just for a few hours. I’m not going to break.”    
“But you could get hurt. Don’t you get that?”   
Instead of answering, he finishes pulling his shirt over his head with a huff when it messes up his hair. He walks over to the desk, picking up the comb there.    
“You always told me I could do whatever I set my mind to. That I could do anything I wanted.” Christopher reminds him. Save for the skateboarding, that one saying had held true.    
His father scrubbed a hand down his face. “I know I did. And it’s still true. But dating. Are you sure you’re ready?”    
Buck knocks on the door making Chris and his dad look over. Christopher waves a hand toward his father. Buck sighed at him. “Eddie, leave your son alone to get ready. He’ll be fine. We can have a nice quiet dinner and night in. Christopher will come home and tell us all about the date.”    
“He can have a date right in the basement,” His dad complains. And yeah right. Not.    
“Oh my gosh.” Christopher tosses the comb onto his desk and walks over to his bed, so that way he can be eye level with his dad. Taking a deep breath, hopefully, Buck and he can talk some sense into his dad.    
“We’re going to a coffee shop. That’s it. Her mom will be picking me up and dropping us off. Dad.” He takes a deep breath. “It’ll be okay. You didn’t act like this when it was James I went out with.”   
His dad opens his mouth and then closes it frowning. “I thought you and James were friends.”    
Christopher has a feeling by the time he hits college his eyes will permanently be stuck with how many times he’s rolled them at his father and Buck. “I told you I was seeing him.”    
“Yeah but I thought…” His dad heaves out a breath, looking over to Buck who holds his hands up in surrender.    
“Don’t look at me. Why you thought that boy was just another one of Christopher’s friends is beyond me, babe. Let’s get out of his hair so he can finish up.” Buck walks into his room, grabbing his father’s wrist and pulling him from the chair. His dad protests weakly but lets Buck pull him from the room.    
“Thank you, Buck.” He calls to their retreating backs.    
“You’re welcome, Superman. Liza should be here shortly. Might want to hustle. And take a sweater. It might be a bit cool.”    
His dad makes some kind of noise as Buck shoves him into the bedroom down the hall, then slams the door shut. Christopher really doesn’t want to know.    
He lets himself fall back against his bed, looking up the constellation wallpaper on his ceiling. Why his dad was freaking out was beyond him. He laid there for a few minutes contemplating the stars until his cell phone beeped for a text message. 

  
_ Liza: We’re almost to your house.  _ _   
_ _ Christopher D: I’ll be ready to go in a minute. And please don’t be freaked out by my dad. He’s having a crisis or something.  _ _   
_ _ Liza: My dad didn’t want me to leave the house with makeup on. Mom let me put it on in the car.  _ _   
_ _ Christopher D: You don’t need makeup to look pretty, but I can’t wait to see you.  _ _   
_ _ Liza: Is it weird I’m a little freaked out about your dad? What about your step-dad? Any crises I need to avoid?  _ _   
_ _ Christopher D: Na. Buck is actually cool and had to drag my dad out of my room.  _ _   
_ _ Liza: I’m sorry. Want to talk about it?  _ _   
_ _ Christopher D: Maybe while we’re waiting for the show to start.  _ _   
_ _ Liza: Perfect. Hey, We just turned down your street.  _ _   
_ _ Christopher D: I’ll be done in a few minutes.  _ _   
_ _ Liza: Cool.  _ _   
_   
Christopher sat up and reached for the zip-up hoodie that sat at the end of the bed, just so he could keep his dad and Buck both happy. He knows they worry, but he just wishes it wasn’t so much. With a quick look in the mirror, he left his room. His father and Buck left theirs at the same time. “You okay?” Buck asked him.    
“Yeah, Liza said they’re almost here. We’re not going to be out late. The show should be done by nine.”    
“Did you remember your phone?”    
“Yes, Dad.” Christopher handed his crutches over and made the descent down the stairs. He’s still not used to it, and he knows they might have to move his bedroom downstairs, but he’s trying.    
“Call if you need anything,” his dad reminds him.    
“I won’t but I know,” Christopher tells him.    
They reached the bottom of their stairs when the doorbell rang. It makes his dad jump. Buck laughs and Christopher tries not to roll his eyes again. His dad answers the door and Christopher has to remember how to breathe. Liza is standing there in a cute black dress, her hair down. She’s got boots on that make her a little taller than he is.    
“Hi, Mr. Diaz. I’m Liza.” She puts her hand out for his dad to shake. When he lets her hand go she holds it out to Buck.    
“Hi, Liza. Have fun. And don’t drink too much sugar.”    
Liza laughs and Christopher wanted to melt right into the sound of it. “We won’t. I promise. Are you ready?” she asks him.    
“Uh yeah.” He turns towards his dad and Buck and gives them a hug. “Be home later. Love you both.”    
His dad holds on a little longer before placing a kiss on the top of his head. “Love you.”    
He turns towards Liza as they head for the stairs. She offers to hold his crutches until they get to the bottom and then slips her arm around one of his as they walk to the car. Christopher turns and waves to his dad and Buck as they’re still standing in the open doorway.    
Once they’re settled in the car, Liza’s mom pulls away from the curb and towards the center of town.    



	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The date continues...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you loved this little slice of life with teenage Christopher.

The coffee shop isn’t too packed when they walk in after saying goodbye to Liza’s mom. It’s a mix of teens and adults, which surprises Christopher. There are a few open tables and people are milling about or sitting at tables talking to each other.   
Liza turned to Chris, hands in the pocket of her dress. “Why don’t you go sit and I’ll grab the coffees?”   
Chris can feel his cheeks get pink. “You don’t have to. I can stay with you.”   
She sighs and Christopher fears everything is going to go wrong. “I know I don’t have to, Chris. I just thought with you having to walk the stairs your legs might be a little sore. It’s not a big deal if I have to get the coffee.”   
“Oh. Well, thank you.”   
She smiles again, leaning over to kiss his cheek. “You’re welcome.”   
Christopher heads off towards one of the open tables a little close to the small stage and sits down, putting his crutches as close to under the table as he can manage. He pulls his cellphone out of his pocket, unsurprised his father has texted him.   
  
_Dad: Are you okay? Did you get there okay?_ _  
_ _Christopher: Yes, dad. Please don’t constantly text. Enjoy the few hours you’ll have with Buck, okay._ _  
_ _Dad: My phone is on. Let me know if you need anything._ _  
_ _Christopher: Okay._ _  
_ _  
_A bright green mug is set in front of him as Liza steps over to the table. “Anything important?”  
Chris shook his head, wrapping his hand around the mug. “No. Just my dad. He’s freaking out about me dating a girl.”   
“Did he act like this with James?”   
“No, apparently he didn’t know? James and I were dating. I don’t know. It led to the whole,” Christopher shuddered. “Talk, this past week.”   
Liza’s face heats to a rosy pink, visible even under the blush she had on. “Oh gosh. I’m so sorry.”   
“It was mortifying for all three of us. Buck was trying to make my dad not do it. But,” Chris shrugged. “That’s my dad.”   
“It’s nice though, just a bit, to know he’s worried.”   
“For my entire life, dad’s always worried about me. It used to be nice, and still is sometimes.”   
“But other times it’s overwhelming.” Liza reached over and grabbed one of Christopher’s hands and he hopes she can’t see his heart beating out of his chest.  
“Exactly.”   
They talk about everything and anything as they wait for the show to start. It’s fun and easy and there’s a lot of laughing. Chris tells her about life in LA and how the last year has been different, but so much better. He tells her about the Tsunami and feels her hand squeeze his tighter when he tells her about being swept away. She tells him about life growing up in Hershey and the storms, even though they’re not LA huge, how they scared her and still do.   
It morphs into a conversation about music and the always familiar argument about what music is better. And how she doesn’t understand why her parents hate her music.   
Christopher nods his head at this. “Buck complains anytime he has to pick me up. He refers to Dubstep as techno.”   
“Parents.” She tells him, making him laugh.   
They chat about their friends and how her house is different than his, but only because of the parental unit's situation. The crowd grows, though not by a lot as it gets closer to showtime. A guitar sits in its stand, waiting for its owner.   
The pair drink their coffee, not speaking, but still holding hands. It’s not awkward. It’s nice and it lets him steal little looks over the rim of his coffee mug and to watch her smile in return. He’s happy he didn’t let his dad talk him out of going. When the mic stand lets out a shrill sound, it makes them both cringe, but look over to the stage. The person they’re there to see steps up to the mic to rounds of applause.   
“I’ll be right back,” Liza tells him and heads off in the direction of the bathroom.   
“Okay.”   
The person starts playing before Liza returns to the table. When she does, he sees she doesn’t have one of her hearing aids in. Pulling out his phone, he pulls out his phone and opens up the note pad, and they pass it back and forth.   
  
**_Sorry! The sound was just a lot._** **  
** **Don’t apologize. It’s fine, they’re pretty good, but it’s not my thing.** **  
** ** _Do you want to go?_** ** _  
_** **No, I want to spend more time with you. My dad told me we could have stayed in and ordered Pizza, we could still do that?** **  
** ** _I like it here though. And I don’t want your dad to interrupt our conversation every two seconds._** **  
**Christopher laughs at her note.  
 **You’re right. There’s a diner down the street? We could walk to?** **  
** ** _How are your legs? Do they hurt?_** ** _  
_** **Only a little, but I’m okay.** **  
** ** _We can stay for a bit._** **  
****Maybe there’s a table further in the back?**   
He watches as Liza rises a little bit, looking over her shoulder. She sits back down and nods.   
**_I think I see one. I’m gonna go see before you have to get up._** **  
** **Liza, I’m fine but thank you.** **  
** ** _You’re welcome._** **  
**She leaves the table again, and Christopher focuses on the music. It’s nice and relaxing, but he knows from watching some of his friends both here and back in LA how a lot of things mess with hearing aids. He’s sorry he suggested this, but he had really wanted somewhere where they could talk to each other. Liza returns a few minutes later, holding on a hand and sans her jacket.  
Bending down, Christopher reaches for his crutches and follows her through the crowd to the back of the coffee shop.   
“Better?” He asks her.   
She nods her head as they sit side by side in a booth. She lays her head down onto his shoulder as she points her phone above them. It’s a nice moment and one he’s glad they’ll have proof of.   



	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Buck wants to have a nice relaxing night in with his husband.... Too bad his husband isn't enjoying the alone they're given.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I see this as the exact way Eddie will react once Christopher gets older. We all know how much he goes into Helicopter dad mode. I love that about him, but sometimes you have to let the kiddies fly on their own, ya know. Anyway, hope you enjoy this!

Buck sighs as he watches Eddie pace the kitchen, a glass of wine in his hand. He stirs the merlot sauce and thinks maybe he should have ordered pizza since his husband chose tonight of all nights to have a crisis. It wasn’t like it was Christopher’s first date, but apparently, Eddie thinks it is. Checking the pasta, he lets Eddie’s muttering wash over him for a minute or two. Chris is a smart kid and they were going to see some music, not make out in the back of a car up at the peak. It would do no good, Buck knows to tell his husband that. Instead, he puts the finishing touches on dinner, putting some music on on his phone, and slipping it into the kitchen’s iDock.    
Grabbing the pot, he walks it over to the sink and figures enough is enough for now. “Am I enjoying this dinner alone? I mean, the sauce has been cooking for two hours, in which you’ve barely said two words to me, other than “my son is on a date. Why did we agree to let him go?”    
Eddie stops wearing a hole in the tires and looks over at Buck. “Why did we?”    
Buck sets the pot to the side. “Because he’s growing up, Eddie and he really likes this girl. She’s all he can talk about afterschool, about school. She seems sweet enough. Would you relax? Christopher is fine. It’s coffee and music.”    
“It’s a date. My son is on an actual date.”    
Buck reaches for the calendar, placing the pasta back into its pan. “It’s not his first date. Yes, it is his first date with a girl, but not Christopher’s actual first date. I made you merlot pasta plus there’s fresh bread Tonya gifted us. Eddie relax.”    
Eddie stares at him like he’s not sure who he is, so Buck just sighs and puts the finishing touches on dinner. Eddie walks to the two bar stools and sits down with a thud. “My baby is on a date.”    
“Eddie.” Leaving the pasta for a minute, Buck walks over, slides in behind Eddie, and wraps his arms around him, kissing him on the back of his head. “He’ll be okay.”    
“I used to be all he had.”    
“And you did the best job too. If Christopher needs anything he knows what to do. Relax please.”    
Eddie lets a breath go, turning slightly. “I’m sorry. It didn’t hit me until this week, I guess.”    
Buck nods and kisses him, then steps back towards their dinner, but gives Eddie his full attention. “My dad was the same with Maddie. I stayed upstairs all night that night. At the time I felt sorry for Doug. Now, not so much. Liza seemed nice.”    
He reached over for plates, dishing up the pasta. Eddie agreed with a grunt. “Maybe we can invite her and her parents over for dinner?”    
Buck put the spoon down, looking back towards his husband. “You want to have a dinner party?”    
Eddie raked his hands through his hair for what seemed like the millionth time since Christopher stepped out of the door. “I would feel better if I knew the girl's parents, so yes? I guess.”    
Buck blew out a breath. He knew Eddie considered parties to be one of the seven circles of hell, but for Christopher, he would walk through fire and Buck would and has walked through it with him. “Okay. So after I finish the schedule tomorrow, I will let you know, and then we can talk with Liza’s parents.”    
“Thank you. I don’t want him to grow up.” He looks down into his almost gone third glass of wine.    
“He has to sometime. I wasn’t ready when he started giving us the attitude.”    
“He gets it from you!” Eddie accused, then laughed at Buck’s affronted look.    
“How dare you! He gets it from you! Not to mention the dramatics.”    
“That’s not nice,” he complains even as Buck lays his plate in front of him and takes the barstool next to Eddie.    
“You love me. Eat, and you can have some water afterward.”    
“I’m not drunk.”    
Buck puts his hand on top of Eddie’s. “I know you’re not. But you want to remember the conversation you’re going to have with Christopher when he gets home.”    
Picking up his fork, Eddie nodded. “I do. Thank you, for dinner.” He leaned over and kissed Buck on the cheek.    
“It’s not pizza, but it’ll do.” Buck fakes being put upon and hurt.   
Eddie groaned, spoon halfway to his mouth. “I was trying not to let my kid go on a date, don’t hate me.”    
“You’re lucky you’re adorable when you pout. Eat, so we can watch some TV without the teenager interrupting.”    
Eddie doesn’t say anything else as they dig into their meal. They’re halfway done when the conversation starts back up. Work and chores, and maybe taking a trip. Camping or something.    
Once they’d finished eating, they cleaned up, side by side, reminding Buck of nights spent cleaning the firehouse kitchen, hip to hip. There wasn’t always music, but there was always conversation, brushes of limb to limb, small smiles. He grabs his phone and Eddie’s hand once they’re done and pulls him into the family room, dropping dramatically onto the sofa. He scoots all the way back until his back hits the armrest. He pulls Eddie down onto the sofa against him. “Chill.” Making sure Eddie is still against him, Buck sits up and grabs the remote, turning on the television, bringing it to life.    
“Pirates are playing tonight.” Buck lets his hand run up and down Eddie’s chest.    
“Dodgers are too.”    
“I’m just going to check the score, then we can watch the Dodgers.”    
Buck kissed Eddie’s head, then turned on the channel the Pirates game was on, then turned it over to the Baseball network.    
***

They hear the car door slam and Buck has to use all his strength to keep Eddie where they were just starting to fall asleep in front of the game. “He’ll be in in a second. We’re spying on him.”    
“Buck.”    
“Eddie, let Christopher come in, then you can ask questions. You don’t want to scare her away from him do you?”    
Eddie deflates, leaning back against him. “No.”    
A few minutes go by before they hear the front door open. “I’m home.”    
“We’re in here, Superman,” Eddie calls back to him.    
Buck lets Eddie go so they can sit up. Christopher walks in just as Eddie is rising from his position. “So how was it?”    
“It was good. We had to move to the back of the shop because Liza’s hearing aide malfunctioned, but the music was still good.”    
Christopher sat down with a sigh. “We talked a lot and we held hands.”    
“Is that all you did?” Eddie looks at him, eyebrows raised making Buck elbow him. “Stop.”    
Christopher nodded, rubbing a little at his leg. “Yes. That was all we did. We like each other, and we love a lot of the same things. She thinks I’m funny.”    
“Well, you are.” Buck runs his hand over Eddie’s arm.    
“You okay Chris?” Buck’s head tilts to the side.    
“Yeah, my legs just hurt today. It’ll be okay. Can I sleep down here tonight?”    
“I’ll go make up the guest room and grab you some PJ’s and stuff.” Buck hops up and kisses the teenager on the top of his curls, running up the stairs, then down. It would give Eddie a chance to talk to him and as much as it sucks, maybe it would get Eddie’s mind preoccupied with something else. He grabs some pajamas from Christopher’s room, then heads back downstairs.    
Eddie and him help Christopher to get ready for bed as they chat about his night. “So Buck and I were talking,” Eddie starts as they settle Christopher into bed. “We think it would be nice to have Liza and her parents over for dinner.”    
“She has like three younger brothers too,” Christopher tells him as he settles into bed.    
“They can come too. If you’re going to be spending time together, I think we should meet them.”    
“I’ll message her tomorrow.”    
“Great. You need anything else?” Eddie, who Buck knows can’t stop once he goes into serious dad mode, gets up from the end of the bed where he’d been rubbing Christopher’s calves ready to go grab him the moon if that’s what Chris says he wants.    
“An ice pack maybe?”    
“I got it.” Buck picks up the ice pack he’d laid on the nightstand. “Don’t fall asleep with it in bed. We’re gonna finish the baseball game and then we’ll check on you before bed, okay.”    
“Sure. Thank you.” Christopher pulled off his glasses, putting them on the nightstand.    
“Welcome kiddo,” Buck ruffled his hair before leaving the guest room and heading right for the stairs. Buck knew his husband and knew there was no way he was leaving Christopher downstairs alone tonight.    
Their backs would absolutely hate them in the morning but all things considered, keeping his two boys happy was more important. Eddie walked down the hall and stood at the entrance of the family room and stared. Buck was just tossing a fresh sheet over the sleeper bed mattress.    
“Thank you.” Buck looked up and smiled.    
“You would have tossed and turned all night if I would have made you go to our actual bed, so tonight this is our room and in the morning our backs will hate us and maybe your helicopter tendencies will have calmed down some.”    
Eddie narrowed his eyes at Buck. “I don’t helicopter. I’m not Rosie.”    
Buck laughed and turned the baseball game back on after tossing Eddie a pair of lounge pants. “I agree, you’re not as bad as Rosie. Now can you please go get changed so you can finally relax?”    
Eddie nodded, turning for the stairs before turning back. “I’m really glad he had a good time.”    
“I am too. And I’m glad they like each other. She knows him and that’s important.”    
Eddie smiled, a real smile for the first time in what seemed like hours. “It really is. Thank you,” He told Buck again.    
“I love you too.”    
***   
Christopher had just put the ice pack on the nightstand when his phone beeped. He reached for it, leaning against the pillows.    
_ Liza: I had a really great time tonight.  _ _   
_ _ Christopher D: Me too. So would you want to go out or stay in again?  _ _   
_ _ Liza: Absolutely. Video games and Pizza sound like fun.  _ _   
_ _ Christopher D: This totally makes up for my dad hovering earlier.  _ _   
_ _ Liza: What does he think I did? Steal your virtue?  _ _   
_ _ Christopher laughed and smiled, despite the small ache he was feeling.  _ _   
_ _ Christopher D: He loves me. He can’t help it. I’m his only kid. But he also wants me to ask you to ask your parents if all of you would like to come over for dinner. Don’t worry, Buck and I won’t let him anywhere near a stove.  _ _   
_ _ Liza: If he’s cooking how can he do it without being near a stove?  _ _   
_ _ Christopher D: He can’t cook. I wouldn’t subject anyone but Buck to that. Buck will cook. But dad probably wants to talk to yours and all that.  _ _   
_ _ Liza: We can talk more about it tomorrow?  _ _   
_ _ Christopher D: Absolutely.  _ _   
_ _ Liza: Night.  _ _   
_ _ Christopher D: Sweet dreams.  _ __   
  
Christopher shut his phone off and put it on the other nightstand, then rolled to his side and feel asleep with a smile on his face. 

**Author's Note:**

> Come Scream at me on my Tumblr @kitkat0723


End file.
